Trump to hold talks with Zelensky, EU leaders 2 days before meeting with Putin
U.S. President Donald Trump will hold talks with European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelensky on Aug. 13, the European Commission press office told the Kyiv Independent.
The meetings will take place two days before Trump's scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, marking it their first in-person meeting since Trump returned to office.
The summit comes as Washington seeks to broker a potential resolution to the war in Ukraine.
In a coordinated diplomatic effort ahead of the talks, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has organized an online meeting between Zelensky and key European leaders. The meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Kyiv time on Aug. 13.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will take part in the calls with "other EU leaders, President Zelensky and President Trump," Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.
Leaders from Finland, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Poland are also expected to join, along with a representative from NATO, Suspilne reported.
Moscow has consistently rejected a U.S. proposal for an unconditional ceasefire backed by Kyiv and European countries, intensifying drone and missile attacks against Ukraine throughout the summer.
On Aug. 8, Trump announced a summit with Putin and reportedly told Ukraine and European leaders that the Kremlin is open to negotiations if "land swaps" are part of the deal.
Though it remains unclear what such a deal would entail, a source in Ukraine's Presidential Office told the Kyiv Independent that Moscow seeks Kyiv's full withdrawal from partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in the east while offering to withdraw its forces from the limited areas it holds in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts.
Zelensky's participation in the upcoming summit also remains uncertain, fueling concerns in Ukraine and Europe that Washington and Moscow could sideline them from the peace process.
Publicly, Putin has demanded a ban on Ukraine's NATO membership and a full Ukrainian withdrawal from partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as a precondition for peace talks.
In turn, Zelensky has rejected ceding territory to Russia and urged a ceasefire as the first step toward peace talks, a position backed by Kyiv's European partners.
